Sunday, January 29, 2012

Iam happily getting used to this. Being lazy and not cooking elaborate!I would love to be like this forever but sometimes when I think of my bloggie and it's future, I get excited and plan on cooking something different.A lot of times, cooking happens but I won't get the time to photograph what I cook. Therefore,my blog was inactive for a good part of this month :-D

For the past few days, something was on my mind and I had to make it,as always, from scratch!It was our favourite Pani Puri! If you like Chaats, you will love Pani Puris! In India,it's usually sold by the plate (with a specific number of Puris on it) but when you make it at home, you are the one who decides how many puris should be on a plate! I should rather keep quite than blurt out the number of puris on my plate :-)

Of course, we shared it with our friends too! What's special in cooking something special and not sharing it with people you like? I must say, they all loved it.It was an instant hit with the two of us. The tangy spicy Pani (water) was so so good! This is a messy thing to eat and you have to eat it the messy way, with your fingers.

This time, when Amma and I went to Delhi, we stopped by the India Gate and the first thing we did there was to eat Pani Puris from a roadside vendor. It was YUM!They store the Pani in earthenware pots so it remains very very cool,making this wonderfully spicy tangy crunchy thing super duper delicious! This is so so simple to make at home and this recipe is just plain wonderful!

Method: Mix the dry ingredients together, in a bowl. Add enough water to it to form a smooth yet firm dough. Knead to make it soft,about a minute or so.Cover it with a damp towel and leave it aside for 10 mins. Form 60 tiny balls and roll out into small circles, around 2 inches in diameter. Keep these under a damp towel or else they will get dry.Fry them in hot oil. Add one circle at a time and press down with a slotted spoon till it puffs up, then turn it and let it continue frying while you add the next circle of dough.Remove when they turn golden brown in colour.Reserve.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Back while I was working, every evening we would have some snack sponsored by someone in our office. I used to wait for that time of the day because it always used to be something hot like a Pazhampori/ Ethakkappam/Banana Fritters,Potato Bondas or Parippu Vadas. Babu Chetan was the one who brought us these snacks and Shyja Chechy would bring in the tea. Ah! Those were the days! :-)

A few days ago, I was thinking about those tiny parippu vadas I used to have at work. Babu Chetan bought it from a tea stall which is very popular for their parippu vadas. They were really small but very crisp and tasty. There's a widespread talk among people that parippu vada is shaped in armpits! I am sure people were kidding when they told me that but while I was shaping the vadas today, I was smiling over that. Whatever! I shaped them in my palm and made sure they don't look alike as I wanted them to look rustic !

Method: Drain the dal completely.Keep aside 1/2 cup of the soaked dal and grind the remaining soaked dal to a coarse paste without adding any water.Add the remaining ingredients and form small patties. Deep fry in hot oil.

It was crisp on the outside and soft inside, a perfect accompaniment for your chai! If you'd like, have a baby banana too, along with these...that's the way a lot of people prefer to eat.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

If you noticed the title, I have mentioned that these Gulab Jamuns are made from scratch. It's just to avoid any confusions that I had when I was searching online for gulab jamun recipes. Many claimed it to be homemade (in the literal sense) and when I reached the recipe part,it asked for xyz brand of Gulab Jamun mix. I can get away with a readymade mix and I have done that many times before but knowing the person that I am, I have to make things at home, if it's possible :) I have searched high and low for a reliable source for it's recipe and have tried quite a few and I must say all of them were disasters. The main problems were a super sticky/stiff/dry dough or gulab jamuns not soaking the syrup.

Ateast once a week, there would be these experiments in our kitchen and when Jobin comes back home, instead of saying a 'Hello' it used to be 'This is the last time I'm ever going to try this!'. Everything went wrong but I never gave up. So after that, when he opened the main door,he would sniff, smile and say,'I thought last time was thelast time!'.

So after many a 'last' time, I got hold of a proportion which worked like a charm for me! You will have to be careful about the consistency of the dough or else it will break while frying.If that happens, add a little more flour to the dough and fry another one.

HOMEMADE GULAB JAMUNS
My own recipe

Ingredients:For the dumplings
1 1/4 c milk powder (Use Everyday- It's available at Indian grocery stores)
1/2 c all purpose flour/ maida
A good pinch of baking soda
3 tbsp cold butter
A few drops of cold milk (not more than 3 tbsp)

Method:Mix together milk together, flour and baking soda. Add the cold butter and rub it well into the flour.It will change the texture of the flour. Add milk little by little( you may or maynot need all of it) and form a smooth yet firm dough. Divide into 25 smooth small balls and deep fry in hot oil.Add the fried dumplings into hot syrup (recipe below) and leave aside for 30 mins.

The oil should not be very hot or else the centre wouldn't be cooked completely. Add a ball of dough into the hot oil, it should settle at the bottom and rise slowly at the count of 10.That is the perfect temperature for frying the dumplings.

Method: Boil together for 5 mins and keep warm on low heat.
Serve warm or chilled.It's delicious when served with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream.

You can flavour the syrup with Rose water too.

The end result was melt-in-your-mouth Gulab Jamuns. The centres were perfectly cooked and the syrup was well absorbed making the dumplings pleasantly sweet. We really love these homemade Gulab Jamuns,especially Jobin! If at any point you feel that the dough is breaking during frying, add some more flour to the dough and knead it in. Your problem will be solved! :-)

Monday, January 2, 2012

Iabsolutely adore my Ammai's rather Mammai's Kappa Erachi. Mammai is my Appan's sister and they live in Kothamangalam,very close to Amma's twin sister.Whenever we go to Mammai's house,she will definately have this dish for one of our meals at their place and we gorge on it. It's so so yummy. I cannot describe better!I sometimes wonder how such simple & humble things when put together makes such a mouthwatering,fantastic dish!

Offlate, I've been thinking of making it at home and I've never made it before. Amma used to make it in Kannur and her's is maybe a 10% different from Mammai's Kappa Erachi.I love it both! Yesterday, as we got out of church, I made up my mind that we are going to have Kappa Erachi for dinner. I told Jobin 'Let's go to the Indian store on our way back to buy some Kappa and Beef.' He agreed instantly because even he loves it!

After a few minutes he asked me if I knew how to make it and he can help me in the kicthen because we would be getting back home pretty late. I had no concrete idea as to how to make it but still had a plan in my head because I wanted to eat it so badly. When I feel like that about food,no matter what, I want to do the cooking because I have to get the dish the way I have pictured it in my mind...tastewise,colourwise & in looks! :-)

After a quick call to Amma,I had some guidelines to follow and she also told me why Mammai's tasted different because she adds some spices while tempering the dish! :-) I did the same and the end result... was mindblowing! It hardly takes anytime to make this wonderful thing!

Method: Mix all the ingredients together, in a pressure cooker and cook till the beef is cooked completely. There should be some water remaining, if not add about 1 cup of water and keep aside.

For the Kappa/Yucca
2 large roots of yucca,cleaned and chopped to 3-4 inch pieces approx.
Plenty of water
Salt to taste

Method: Boil the chopped yucca in lots of water and enough salt till 3/4th cooked. Drain of the excess water. Add the yucca to the beef and mix.You can mash up some pieces of the yucca and add more water,in case you need the biriyani to be a little loose.Simmer for 5 mins.

Method: Heat oil, crackle the mustard seeds. Add onions, ginger and garlic and saute till onions are golden brown in colour. Switch of the heat and add the powders and saute for 30 seconds.Pour over the yucca and beef and mix well. Check for salt.

This dish will thicken as it cools, so make sure it's a little loose,like a thick porridge.

Now that I have mastered the art of making a very good Kappa Erachi, I'm a happy girl!! We had a fabulous dinner, last night! All you Kappa Biriyani lovers, do try this and if you do, let me know! :-)